The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg published a piece saying he was inadvertently invited to a Trump administration text group chat discussing the White House's plans to strike Houthi militants in Yemen. (Reuters )
Boasberg, already under fire from the Trump administration for issuing a restraining order that temporarily blocked the president's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals, emphasized at the start of Thursday's hearing he was randomly assigned to the case through a docket computer system, not by choice.
His remarks came hours after President Donald Trump accused Boasberg on social media of "grabbing the 'Trump Cases' all to himself," a claim Boasberg quickly sought to refute by detailing the court’s random assignment process, including the electronic card system used to distribute cases among judges.
"That's how it works, and that's how all cases continue to be assigned in this court," he said.
JUDGE TELLS GOVERNMENT WATCHDOGS FIRED BY TRUMP THERE'S NOT MUCH SHE CAN DO FOR THEM
President Donald Trump and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (Getty Images)
Boasberg has sparred with the Trump administration over its failure to comply with the court's requests for information on its deportation flights earlier this month, which sent around 261 migrants, including Venezuelan nationals and alleged members of the gang Tren de Aragua, from the U.S. to El Salvador.
The flights appeared to have departed from Texas around the time Boasberg issued an emergency restraining order and were not returned to the U.S. despite a bench ruling explicitly ordering their immediate return.
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The Justice Department this week invoked the state secrets privilege in the ongoing court battle, a national security tool that could allow the Trump administration to withhold certain information from the courts for national security purposes.
Most recently, the Trump administration vowed to immediately appeal to the Supreme Court a ruling from the D.C. appellate court, which voted 2-1 to uphold Boasberg's ruling and allow, for now, the block on Trump's deportation flights to continue.
Fox News's William Mears contributed to this report.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-boasberg-crosshairs-trump-deportation-case-orders-preservation-signal-messages